PHOENIX — A new report from Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies shows the U.S. is not ready to handle the influx of seniors who will be unable to afford housing and long-term care as they age.
The study looked at housing affordability, savings and long-term care costs for seniors.
In Arizona, for instance, the study showed only 15% of seniors could afford to move to an assisted living facility if they had to.
"There's estimates out there that over 70% of older adults will need some kind of long-term care services at some point in their lives," Jennifer Molinsky, the primary author of the study, said.
Because of that and the increasing costs of housing, there isn't enough housing to go around, leading to fears that many seniors will become homeless, Molinsky said.
"The primary reason we're seeing such a rise in senior homelessness is that they just don't have the money to get old," Central Arizona Shelter Services (CASS) CEO Lisa Glow said.
Glow said more seniors are showing up to CASS's emergency shelter, which is a 600-bed facility not designed for senior care.
Glow pointed to a woman in her 90s who came to the shelter because she could no longer afford her rent. Another man in his 80s came to the shelter unable to care for himself, Glow said, and without anywhere else to go.
"There's no safety net for grandma and grandpa," Glow said.
CASS is working on senior shelter facilities, but they're all meant to be temporary. What seniors need, the study said, is more permanent solutions that are affordable on small fixed incomes.
"We're at the tail end of the baby boomer generation coming into full retirement," AARP Arizona's Aaron Wodka said. "They're becoming the largest bloc of the population here in Arizona."
Glow and Wodka said there needs to be more work on creative housing solutions like roommate sharing and auxiliary dwelling units -- small units in backyards that can be rented out to seniors. And also, they both said, more funding for affordable solutions.